Effect of the amount of SiC particles on the microstructure, mechanical and wear properties of FeMnCoCr high entropy alloy composites

Ceramic particle reinforced high entropy (HEA) alloy composites have attracted considerable attention due to their excellent combination of strength, ductility, and wear resistance. In this work, the high entropy alloy composites (Fe50Mn30Co10Cr10 matrix) with the different SiC contents (0.1, 0.5, 1, and 3 vol%) were fabricated by arc melting. The effect of SiC content on microstructure characteristics, mechanical and wear properties of Fe50Mn30Co10Cr10 composites were studied. The results showed that SiC stabilized the γ phase and refined the grain sizes. In addition, the number of ε variants were decreased with refined grain sizes. The composite with 1 vol% SiC optimized the combination of ultimate tensile strength and ductility, which is attributed to grain-boundary strengthening, twin boundary strengthening, dispersion strengthening and load-bearing strengthening. Simultaneously, the optimized composite with 1 vol% SiC displayed the best wear friction ability, in which the proper SiC content played a key role in carrying load during friction.